Method for controlling mobile robots

Abstract

A method for controlling a plurality of mobile robots is to be implemented by a server that communicates with the plurality of mobile robots and a communication device. The server stores a predetermined working route related to a target area. The method includes steps of: receiving a working instruction from the communication device, the working instruction including area information related to the target area and an input quantity of mobile robots; in response to receipt of the working instruction, dividing the predetermined working route into a plurality of sub-routes, wherein a quantity of the sub-routes equals the input quantity of mobile robots; and sending the sub-routes respectively to a plurality of selected robots that are selected from among the plurality of mobile robots to make the selected robots cooperatively implement a task on the target area by moving along the sub-routes, respectively.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for controlling a plurality of mobile robots, to be implemented by a server that communicates with the plurality of mobile robots and a communication device, the server storing a predetermined working route related to a target area, the method comprising steps of:
 receiving a working instruction from the communication device, the working instruction including area information related to the target area and an input quantity of mobile robots; 
 in response to receipt of the working instruction, dividing the predetermined working route that is related to the target area into a plurality of sub-routes, wherein a quantity of the sub-routes equals the input quantity of mobile robots; 
 sending the sub-routes respectively to a plurality of selected robots selected from among the plurality of mobile robots to make the selected robots cooperatively implement a task on the target area by moving along the sub-routes, respectively; and 
 after sending the sub-routes respectively to the plurality of selected robots, implementing a determining-and-handling procedure, 
 wherein the determining-and-handling procedure includes steps of 
 receiving a plurality of working states respectively from the selected robots; 
 determining whether each of the working states indicates that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working along the corresponding one of the sub-routes; 
 when it is determined that each of the working states indicates that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working, sending to the communication device a notification indicating that all of the selected robots have finished working; 
 when it is determined that one of the working states does not indicate that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working, sending an abnormal-checking instruction to each of the selected robots to make the selected robot determine whether the selected robot is in an abnormal condition and send an abnormal notification indicating that the selected robot is in the abnormal condition to the server when it is determined that the selected robot is in the abnormal condition; 
 determining whether an abnormal notification is received from any one of the selected robots; and 
 when it is determined that an abnormal notification is received from one of the selected robots, executing an abnormal-handling sub-procedure, 
 wherein the abnormal-handling sub-procedure includes steps of based on the abnormal notification thus received, generating an abnormal report indicating an abnormal one of the selected robots that is a source of the abnormal notification thus received, and then sending the abnormal report to the communication device; 
 receiving a working adjustment instruction from the communication device, the working adjustment instruction being generated by a user using the communication device with reference to the abnormal report; and 
 according to the working adjustment instruction, dispatching a portion of the mobile robots to complete the task on the target area, 
 wherein, in the step of receiving a working adjustment instruction, the working adjustment instruction indicates adding another one of the mobile robots in addition to the selected robots for completing the task, and 
 wherein the step of dispatching a portion of the mobile robots to complete the task includes selecting an additional robot from among the mobile robots other than the selected robots according to the working adjustment instruction, sending to the additional robot an adjusted route that is an uncompleted portion of one of the sub-routes which was sent to the abnormal one of the selected robots to make the additional robot continue implementing the task together with the selected robots except the abnormal one of the selected robots by moving along the adjusted route, and repeating the determining-and-handling procedure for the additional robot and the selected robots except the abnormal one of the selected robots. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , the predetermined working route having a plurality of route coordinate sets, wherein the step of dividing the predetermined working route into a plurality of sub-routes includes sub-steps of:
 retrieving the predetermined working route based on the working instruction; 
 obtaining a total working time for the task based on a predetermined robot speed; 
 dividing the total working time by the input quantity of mobile robots to obtain a minimum working time; and 
 dividing the predetermined working route into the sub-routes based on the predetermined robot speed, the route coordinate sets of the predetermined working route and the minimum working time, each of the sub-routes having a part of the route coordinate sets of the predetermined working route. 
 
     
     
       3. The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the sub-step of obtaining a total working time includes obtaining a route length of the predetermined working route based on the route coordinate sets, and obtaining the total working time based on the predetermined robot speed and the route length. 
     
     
       4. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising, before the step of receiving a working instruction, steps of:
 receiving setting information from the communication device, the setting information including the area information and time-related information; 
 generating a proposed quantity of mobile robots that is suitable for the task on the target area based on a predetermined robot speed and the setting information; and 
 sending the proposed quantity of mobile robots to the communication device. 
 
     
     
       5. The method as claimed in  claim 4 , the predetermined working route having a plurality of route coordinate sets, wherein:
 in the step of receiving setting information, the time-related information is a preferred end time of the task on the target area, 
 the step of obtaining a proposed quantity of mobile robots includes retrieving the predetermined working route based on the setting instruction, obtaining a route length of the predetermined working route based on the route coordinate sets, obtaining a total working time for the predetermined working route based on the predetermined robot speed and the route length, and generating the proposed quantity of mobile robots based on the predetermined robot speed, the setting information and a current time. 
 
     
     
       6. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a step of
 when it is determined that no abnormal notification has been received, repeating the determining-and-handling procedure. 
 
     
     
       7. A method for controlling a plurality of mobile robots, to be implemented by a server that communicates with the plurality of mobile robots and a communication device, the server storing a predetermined working route related to a target area, the method comprising steps of:
 receiving a working instruction from the communication device, the working instruction including area information related to the target area and an input quantity of mobile robots; 
 in response to receipt of the working instruction, dividing the predetermined working route that is related to the target area into a plurality of sub-routes, wherein a quantity of the sub-routes equals the input quantity of mobile robots; 
 sending the sub-routes respectively to a plurality of selected robots selected from among the plurality of mobile robots to make the selected robots cooperatively implement a task on the target area by moving along the sub-routes, respectively; and 
 after sending the sub-routes respectively to the plurality of selected robots, implementing a determining-and-handling procedure, 
 wherein the determining-and-handling procedure includes steps of 
 receiving a plurality of working states respectively from the selected robots; 
 determining whether each of the working states indicates that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working along the corresponding one of the sub-routes; 
 when it is determined that each of the working states indicates that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working, sending to the communication device a notification indicating that all of the selected robots have finished working; 
 when it is determined that one of the working states does not indicate that the corresponding one of the selected robots has finished working, sending an abnormal-checking instruction to each of the selected robots to make the selected robot determine whether the selected robot is in an abnormal condition and send an abnormal notification indicating that the selected robot is in the abnormal condition to the server when it is determined that the selected robot is in the abnormal condition; 
 determining whether an abnormal notification is received from any one of the selected robots; and 
 when it is determined that an abnormal notification is received from one of the selected robots, executing an abnormal-handling sub-procedure, 
 wherein the abnormal-handling sub-procedure includes steps of 
 based on the abnormal notification thus received, generating an abnormal report indicating an abnormal one of the selected robots that is a source of the abnormal notification thus received, and then sending the abnormal report to the communication device; 
 receiving a working adjustment instruction from the communication device, the working adjustment instruction being generated by a user using the communication device with reference to the abnormal report; and 
 according to the working adjustment instruction, dispatching a portion of the mobile robots to complete the task on the target area, 
 wherein, in the step of receiving a working adjustment instruction, the working adjustment instruction indicates re-dividing an uncompleted portion of the predetermined working route that has not been passed by the selected robots; and 
 wherein the step of dispatching a portion of the mobile robots to complete the task includes re-dividing the uncompleted portion of the predetermined working route into a plurality of adjusted sub-routes according to the working adjustment instruction, sending the adjusted sub-routes respectively to the selected robots except the abnormal one of the selected robots, and repeating the determining-and-handling procedure for the selected robots except the abnormal one of the selected robots, a quantity of the adjusted sub-routes being equal to the input quantity of mobile robots minus one. 
 
     
     
       8. The method as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein when a plurality of abnormal notifications are received respectively from multiple ones of the selected robots, a quantity of the adjusted sub-routes being equal to the input quantity of mobile robots minus a number of the abnormal notifications thus received.